Swansea, Pelican, Lake Maquarie Area

tigerGT

tigerGT

Hi All,

It has been a while since I have posted. Been watching prices go up all around me and i am kicking myself for not picking the upswing when property turned around in mid 2009. Anyway hope everyone is well.
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I would love some locals or even investors who are experienced with the lake macquarie area around swansea and pelican. I am looking at a house that is one street back from the lake and I can pick it up for 430k. IT is a nice weatherboard 1989 home and is only one street back from the beach (east side of lake macquarie around blacksmiths.
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I went and had a look and fell in love with location but after doing some research i am concerned by low growth rates and low 10 year capital gain averages.
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I had a look at lake macquarie councl web page but cant see any major announcements about swansea, pelican area. Is anyone aware of any new investement to the area or anything positive for teh area?
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Does anyone own or live here and would love your thoughts on pelican, swansea, blacksmiths area.
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thank you team,
 
Not a bad area in terms of lifestyle and natural beauty I totally agree, but I can't see any strong growth in the near future for that area with the market basically taking a breather at the moment. For me personally, I wouldn't be buying there on the speculation of strong capital gains etc. But if you like the lifestyle, then sure why not.

There are cheaper "sleeper" suburbs around Lake Macquarie which present cheaper buy-in prices, are more secluded and more in the path of major growth corridors and infrastructure. So I wouldn't discount Lake Macquarie as a whole.
 
tigerGT said:
I went and had a look and fell in love with location but after doing some research i am concerned by low growth rates and low 10 year capital gain averages.
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I can understand why you fell in love with Swansea. I think it is just beautiful, especially the green water on the white sand as you cross over the bridge and where you can see the breakers on the surf beach.

In terms of CG, it still has not recovered to its highs last reached in 2004.

tigerGT said:
Does anyone own or live here and would love your thoughts on pelican, swansea, blacksmiths area.
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I think it is still seen by most as a holiday / retirement destination. The majority of households are single parent and the predominant age group is 60-69.

The infrastructure spending is all happenning a few kms north at Charlestown.
 
I agree re Swansea Blacksmiths. And about Charlestown. Been watching it for a while.
My next purchase will be in Charlestown area. Unit or older townhouse in smallish complex with potential to add value. Was originally thinking bout new unit but unsure. What do any Newcastle people think of newer unit developments in Charlestown?
 
batgirl said:
Was originally thinking bout new unit but unsure. What do any Newcastle people think of newer unit developments in Charlestown?
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Replace the word "Charlestown" with "any town" and you'll get the same answer, which is: You pay a premium for new & shiny which goes to the developer's bottom line. CG is likely to be limited for the first few years .....etc etc. If you must - enjoy the depreciation benefits in exchange for the foregoing.

batgirl said:
Unit or older townhouse in smallish complex with potential to add value.
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Always a proven strategy in "any town" ;)

Again, consider one suburb out - Adamstown & Adamstown Hts to the north and dare I say it - some REA's are calling Gateshead,.....wait for it.... South Charlestown LOL :cool:
 
i'm thinking belmont for my next buy.

the retail cbd of newcastle is in the process of moving to charlestown, belmont is getting a dramatic facelift ... but i will be buying older, not new and shiney.

but don't listen to me - i picked hamilton over adamstown as the next big thing 6 years ago and got stung. for all logical reasons hamilton should've followed the outward flow of value increases - but there is not logic and emotions of most buyers.
 
lizzie said:
but don't listen to me - i picked hamilton over adamstown as the next big thing 6 years ago and got stung. for all logical reasons hamilton should've followed the outward flow of value increases - but there is not logic and emotions of most buyers.
Click to expand...

That was a perfectly fair call in my opinion and an unlucky result really, I had always picked Hamilton as a winner too. But these days Adamstown (the Heights in particular) is a lovely leafy area and very central too. Hamilton has evolved into more of a dingy gathering ground for punks and alternatives. Sometimes it even feels a little dodgy just walking around Beaumont St these days :p
 
Hi tigergt,

My husband and I live in the Lake Macquarie area and have owned an IP in Pelican for the last 5 years. We have seen no capital growth whatsoever. But, I can't part with the property as it was my grandparents' house and had been in the family for nearly 60 years. (yes, we broke an important rule in property investing: never buy an IP based on emotion!). We bought the property from 6 siblings, 2 of which were particularly mercenary, and we paid around 10% above market value (yet another investing rule broken) just to stop a developer based on the Gold Coast from getting it - he owned the property next door and had been hanging out for Granma to die or go into a home so he could get hold of her house, knock it down and build a few townhouses.

In addition to the lack of large-scale investment in the Swansea to Belmont area, particularly with regards to the run-down and tired nature of the Belmont CBD, the lower lying areas of Lake Macquarie such as Pelican are suffering from the very cautious approach being adopted by Lake Macquarie Council with respect to Climate Change and potential sea-level rise. Council has developed a response policy which includes a range of planning restrictions (see Council's web-page on Sea Level Rise at http://www.lakemac.com.au/page.aspx?pid=844&vid=14).

My husband and I have regular arguments about the property. He's concerned that over time the property will be devalued to the point where it will be worthless. As an Environmental Scientist myself, I understand and somewhat agree with the science behind sea level change predictions. But, I don't believe all is lost. One thing Pelican has in its favour is the low rental vacancy rates. It seems young people who have grown up in Pelican/Swansea tend to look for rentals in the area, rather than moving closer to Newcastle. We have had two young families from the Pelican area rent the property, the first family stayed for 3 years and only moved out because they bought their own home under the First Home Owners Grant scheme. The second family moved from another house in the same street (they only moved out of the house because it had been sold by the owner). Both families have been excellent tenants who have always paid on time and looked after the property.

The last time I 'discussed' our Pelican property with my husband, I joked that we could always just relocate Granma's house to a block of land in the country, well away from the impact of sea level rises, and sell the subsequent vacant block of land to a climate change sceptic who doesn't believe in all the 'hype' about climate change. I wonder if that Gold Coast developer might be interested..... ;)

Kind regards,

novo
 
Hi Novo,
Very interesting post - wow - "eShorance" !! That sounds like a council committee name doesn't it?

Good luck with deciding what to do. I don't think your property will become devalued to the point of being worthless - there are always people like my partner who is an avid sea level rise sceptic to buy. :)
 
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